AEW Dynasty 2026: Biggest Winners And Losers

The 2026 edition of AEW Dynasty took place on April 12 in Vancouver, British Columbia. As always, it was an immense show, full of action, but lean on stipulations, returns, or anything else that might distract from the happenings in the ring. We've already talked about what we loved and what we hated, and we've gone over the results of the show, so now, all that's left is to discuss who came out looking like a winner, and who came out looking like a big fat loser.

As always, this will not be literal. Some winners are losers, like MJF, who has no where to go but down, and some losers are really winners, like Konosuke Takeshita and Kazuchika Okada. Sometimes it is the way it appears though, with losers being losers and winners being winners.

Enough of my pontificating, let's get into the nitty and the gritty.

According to reports, Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita were not supposed to be in the same match on Sunday, but thank god for injury because it led to more narrative momentum than either guy has had in months.

Tensions boiled over in their tag match against The Young Bucks, and Takeshita cost himself a match against the International Champion by allowing the Bucks to get the win. Now, instead of an easy title match to follow up, we have to see where this story is going. It will be a long and crooked road to these two coming to blows. Who's to say that Takeshita even goes for the International Title? He could cost Okada the title out of animosity. No matter what happens, it will be a million times more interesting than the two of them sniping at each other like they've been for nearly half a year.

There is no better encapsulation of this silly medium we call wrestling, than the fact that Takeshita probably made himself and Okada look like bigger winners in defeat, than they ever could've by overcoming their issues and working together. This business is built on drama and conflict, after all.

MJF has had a tremendous reign as world champion, and I am on record as saying that he had a wonderful match with Kenny Omega on Sunday.

But...

With Darby Allin knocking at the door, and Will Ospreay waiting in the wings, it feels like there are a lot of contenders to take his title, and I'm not sure if there's anyone bigger for him to beat than Kenny Omega. I now find myself sitting on my hands, waiting for it to be time for MJF to drop the title, be it Wednesday or later this year at All In.

Either way, the peak has been hit and it's all downhill for MJF from here on out. He has to do his best to ride this title reign to a satisfying conclusion. Beat too many of the Ospreays or the Allins of the world, and it could turn this reign into a disaster. I'm not sure I'm convinced of Darby's chances, but Ospreay is due to be world champion any day now. If the company waits too long, it could be ruinous, and if it's too soon, MJF's reign feels like a non-entity. It's a tricky situation MJF finds himself in, and he's going to need to white-knuckle it through the rough patches.

Kevin Knight is the new AEW TNT Champion, and damned if it doesn't feel like the first big moment for the company's next young star. Knight has been all-promise and all-potential during his time in NJPW and now AEW, and with his first singles title in hand, he seems to be finally delivering on that promise and potential.

Knight has been a standout part of the tag and trios division, and where some wrestlers get stuck in the mire of tandem competition, Knight rose above the noise and is set on becoming the star everyone thinks he could be. His feud with Swerve Strickland showed promise, and now he has one of AEW's workhorse titles to prove that he belongs in the conversation with the MJFs and the Hangman Pages.

The strippers, and the wings, at Magic City are set for a celebration for Knight and it is well-earned.

The Dogs belong in AEW, without a doubt, but it feels like the group is stuck in second gear. They haven't quite had the success that one would suspect a former Bullet Club faction would have in a promotion run by former Bullet Club members. The team won the AEW World Tag Team Titles, just to lose the titles days later to the  Conglomeration, and now Gabe Kidd is on the shelf indefinitely with a shoulder injury. It's made them feel like they're going to need to regroup sometime down the line, maybe in time for Forbidden Door.

Much like MJF, this is far from their fault, and they're doing their best with the cards they've been dealt, but when you're playing poker, and your cards are bad, you either have to bluff real hard or else there's only one way it's gonna turn out: loser.